Jo ‘trekked’ from Palmerston North to the WEC-associated Melusi Christian Community in South Africa.  Melusi ministries include caring for the homeless, HIV/ AIDS care, food distribution, outreaches and a kids club.  The excerpt below comes from an email four months into Jo’s six month stay...

After looking at our website, several enquirers over recent months felt there was no “natural fit” for them in WEC.  It turns out however, that these people were a good fit, but got the wrong impression through a curious omission.

Whether it’s running schools, medical clinics, sustainable farming, developing literacy programmes, providing relief and development or cattle for those who have lost all they had, WEC teams are sharing Christ’s love around the world.  It is tough and often thankless, but so relevant and necessary.  Some of the workers involved are highly trained professionals, others with hearts full of love do what they can – just like Mary did for Jesus (Mark 14:6-8).

Here’s a random mix of just some of what WECers think and do...

Recently I visited HIV/AIDS patients at the general hospital.  I met a young man and his mother who sat on his hospital bed.  The other patient in the room was a Cameroonian man who was unresponsive - it was obvious he was dying in front of this young man and his mother.

After praying for everyone in the room, I left with my heart in my stomach.  Dying in a foreign country with no family by your bedside would be a nightmare in itself.  What is worse is that the hospital doesn’t even provide needed medicine. 

“We’ve built them a hospital, taught them English, given them medicine…..what more do they want?” The line in the movie Avatar goes something like that. If you’ve seen it recently you may have been struck by how possible it is for evil motives to fire social action. “We’ll do XYZ so that we can get what we want.” In Avatar it was access and possession of a precious mineral. In mission life it could be acceptance and trust in a community in order to be able to preach and find receptivity to the gospel.